Mr Whitcomb raised his eyebrows and smiled.
"I think, madam, that it may have been a solicitor you wanted. I, unfortunately, am only a barrister. I fear you have made a mistake."
"I have not made a mistake; how have I made a mistake? I saw in a paper the other day that you were the greatest living authority on the law of marriage."
"It was very good of the paper to say so. Since I am indebted for your presence here to so handsome a compliment, I will waive the point of etiquette and inform you--of what you, surely, must be already aware--that the grounds on which a divorce may be obtained are various."
"I know that; that isn"t what I mean. What I specially want to know is this--can a woman get a divorce from her husband because he gets sent to prison?"
"Because he gets sent to prison? For doing what?"
"For--for swindling; because he"s a scoundrel."
Mr Whitcomb"s eyebrows went up again.
"The idea that a marriage may be dissolved because one of the parties is guilty of felony, and is consequently sentenced to a term of imprisonment, is a novel one to me."
"Not if a girl finds out that the man who has married her is a villain and a thief? A thief, mind."
He shook his head.
"I find that that would be no ground for dissolution."
"Are you sure?"
"My dear young lady, you were good enough to say that some paper or other credited me with a knowledge of the laws dealing with the subject of marriage. I can a.s.sure you that on that point there is no doubt whatever."
"Is that so?" The girl"s lips were tightly compressed, her brows knit.
"Then there are no means whatever by which a wife can be rid of a husband whom she discovers to be a rogue and a rascal?"
"Not merely because he is a rogue and a rascal; except by the act of G.o.d."
"What do you mean by the act of G.o.d?"
"If, for example, he should die."
"If he should die? I see! There is no way by which she can be released from him except by--death. Thank you, that is all I wanted to know."
She laid on his table what, to his surprise, he perceived to be a twenty-pound note.
"My dear young lady, what is this?"
"That is your fee. I don"t want to occupy your time or obtain information from you for nothing."
"But you have done neither. Permit me to return you this. That is not the way in which I do business; in this instance, the honour of having been consulted by you is a sufficient payment. Before you go, however, let me give a piece of really valuable advice. If you have a friend who is in any matrimonial trouble, persuade her to see a respectable solicitor at once, and to place the whole facts before him unreservedly. He may be able to show her a way out of her difficulty which would never have occurred to her."
He commented--inwardly--on his visitor, after her departure.
"That"s either a very simple-minded young woman or a most unusual character. Fancy her coming to me with such an inquiry! She has got herself into some matrimonial mess, most probably, without the cognisance of her friends. Unless I am mistaken she is the kind of young woman who, if she has made up her mind to get out of it, will get out of it; if not by fair means, then--though I hope not!--by foul."
CHAPTER VII
MR MORICE PRESUMES
One day a desire seized Miss Arnott to revisit the place where she had first met Mr Morice. She had not been there since. That memorable encounter had spoilt it for her. It had been her custom to wander there nearly every fine day. But, since it had been defiled by such a memory, for her, its charm had fled.
Still, as the weeks went by, it dawned upon her by degrees, that, after all, there was no substantial reason why she should turn her back on it for ever. It was a delightful spot; so secluded, so suited to solitary meditation.
"I certainly do not intend," she told herself, "to allow that man"--with an accent on the "that"--"to prevent my occasionally visiting one of the prettiest parts of my own property. It would be mere affectation on my part to pretend that the place will ever be to me the same again; but that is no reason why I should never take a walk in that direction."
It was pleasant weather, sunny, not too warm and little wind. Just the weather for a woodland stroll, and, also, just the weather for a motor ride. That latter fact was particularly present to her mind, because she happened to be undergoing one of those little experiences which temper an automobilist"s joys. The machine was in hospital. She had intended to go for a long run to-day, but yesterday something had all at once gone wrong with the differential, the clutch, the bevel gear or something or other. She herself did not quite know what, or, apparently, anyone else either. As a result, the car, instead of flying with her over the sun-lit roads, was being overhauled by the nearest local experts.
That was bad enough. But what almost made it worse was the additional fact that Hugh Morice"s car was flying over the aforesaid country roads with him. That her car should have broken down, though ever so slightly, and his should not--that altogether inferior article, of which he was continually boasting in the most absurd manner--was gall and wormwood.
The accident, which had rendered her own car for the moment unavailable, had something to do with her stroll; the consciousness that "that man" was miles away on his had more.
"At anyrate I sha"n"t run the risk of any more impertinent interferences with my privacy. Fortunately, so far as I know, there is no one else in the neighbourhood who behaves quite as he does. So, as he is risking his life on that noisy machine of his, I am safe. I only hope he won"t break his neck on it; there never was such a reckless driver."
This pious wish of hers was destined to receive an instant answer.
Hardly had the words been uttered, than, emerging from the narrow path, winding among the trees and bushes, along which she had been wandering, she received ample proof that Mr Morice"s neck still remained unbroken.
The gentleman himself was standing not fifty paces from where she was.
So disagreeably was she taken by surprise that she would have immediately withdrawn, and returned at the top of her speed by the way she had come, had it not been for two things. One was that he saw her as soon as she saw him; and the other that she also saw something else, the sight of which filled her with amazement.
The first reason would not have been sufficient to detain her; although, so soon as he caught sight of her, he hailed her in his usual hearty tones. The terms of courtesy--or rather of discourtesy--on which these two stood towards each other were of such a nature that she held herself at liberty wholly to ignore him whenever she felt inclined.
More than once when they had parted they had been on something less than speaking terms. For days together she had done her very best to cut him dead. Then, when at last, owing to his calm persistency, the acquaintance was renewed, he evinced not the slightest consciousness of its having ever been interrupted. Therefore she would not have hesitated to have turned on her heels, and walked away without a word--in spite of his salutation, had it not been for the something which amazed her.
The fence had been moved!
At first she thought that her eyes, or her senses, were playing her a trick. But a moment"s inspection showed her that the thing was so. The old wooden, lichen-covered rails had been taken away for a s.p.a.ce of sixty or seventy feet; and, instead, a little distance farther back, on the Oak Dene land, a solid, brand-new fence had been erected; standing in a position which conveyed the impression that the sheltered nook to which--in her ignorance of boundaries--Miss Arnott had been so attached, and in which Mr Morice first discovered her, was part and parcel of Exham Park instead of Oak Dene.
It was some seconds before the lady realised exactly what had happened.
When she did, she burst out on Mr Morice with a question.
"Who has done this?"
The gentleman, who stood with his back against a huge beech tree, took his pipe from between his lips, and smiled.
"The fairies."
"Then the fairies will soon be introduced to a policeman. You did it."
"Not with my own hands, I a.s.sure you. At my time of life I am beyond that sort of thing."
"How dare you cause my fence to be removed?"